In his latest book Shooting a Century,which hit book stores this week,Stephen P Cohen says Modi epitomises a certain ambivalence toward Pakistan,which is the also case with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.

Narendra Modi,the Chief Minister of Gujarat and a rising star in the BJP,epitomises a certain ambivalence toward Pakistan, wrote Cohen in his book.

Cohen is currently a senior fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institute,a Washington-based eminent think-tank. Ideologically hawkish,but economically opportunistic,Modi was associated with several communal atrocities,yet he is one of the most effective of Indias politicians,at least in his home state,which borders Pakistan, Cohen writes in his book,which is mostly focused on the India-Pakistan relationship.

On the one hand,he (Modi) regularly excoriates it (Pakistan) for supporting terrorism,he has been vehement regarding other states,notably America,for the lack of clarity on their stand on Pakistan-based terrorism. His strong views here may reflect Americas refusal to give him a visa,but his attacks on Pakistan please the RSS component of the BJP establishment, Cohen wrote.

During a trip to China seeking Chinese investment,Modi took an appropriately hard line on the role of Chinese troops in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. But undoubtedly the Chinese told Modi that they favoured good India-Pakistan relations,and Gujarat,bordering Pakistan,would benefit enormously from trade with that country, he said.

His requests for Chinese investment balance out his concern for Pakistani-based extremism,so he has not come out directly or strongly on the India-Pakistan normalisation process,except to criticise the Congress and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for softness, the author wrote.

In a letter to Modi,a copy of which was released to the media here,he said You made your Government free from corruption and gave a Gandhian holiday to alcoholism  good enough found to make you a leader.

When the appropriate time comes,lead the nation on the Gandhian model of integrity,anti-alcoholism and a socialist secular national policy, he said. ENS